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robbif - Posted - 08/07/2014: 07:32:43
This has probably been talked about many times before. But I got this from member f5loar on Facebook today.
Since he hasn't posted here in a while, I thought I'd stir this up.
For the Monroe fanatics only...
[Below] is what I consider the best photo of the Monroe headstock before
Gibson repaired it in 1980. Photo date unknown but looks to be around
1975. Note the deepness of the gouged out "Gibson" logo. He was pretty
mad with the pocket knife that day in 1951 when he removed that Gibson
logo. Left only the "THE" at the top. Between that and the broken top
scroll, the look that he never cleaned it, this photo really shows the
wear to the headstock.
Is [the other] rare photo of Monroe's headstock taken right after Gibson repaired it
in 1980 when they replaced it with a new overlay or is it a fake?
(click on the thumbnails to enlarge the photo)
gsdauria - Posted - 08/11/2014: 21:21:08
What was he mad about?
mandolin tony - Posted - 09/22/2014: 17:06:22
they blew him off. it's history you can read about it.
mandoist - Posted - 11/08/2014: 02:52:28
Basic story:
Bill sent his mando to Gibson in Kalamazoo in the early 1950s (ca. late 1951). He wanted the neck reset, new frets, fingerboard, tuning pegs, bridge and refinishing. Gibson kept the instrument about four months. When Bill got it back only the neck work had been done. Since he figured he'd 'sold' a lot of players on a Gibson, that he deserved better service from Gibson. So he used his pocketknife to remove the "Gibson" inlay. Monroe was quoted by one of his colleagues at the Opry: "they done me wrong, so the name come off." Bill once described it to me by saying "I chipped that thing to bits".
Around 1978, Gibson's product development person, the now famed Rendal Wall, had his first of many meetings with Bill over a possible truce with Gibson. They wanted to right the wrong, so to speak, and renovate his F5. Bill said he'd think it over. It took two years of 'thinking' before Monroe agreed to make amends with Gibson and have the work done. I believe Monroe got it back in October 1980.
The original headstock veneer, removed during the repair in 1980, was auctioned off at Christie's in December 2009 for $37,500. It went to Laura Weber Cash.
